


Trust

by BeStillMySlashyHeart



Series: AK ficlets [14]
Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-10 13:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19505314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeStillMySlashyHeart/pseuds/BeStillMySlashyHeart
Summary: Pope and Craig are concerned about a snitch, Deran knows it isn't Adrian.Except it is.





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

> written between 4x01 and 4x02

The first thing he noticed was Deran’s voice. The man was yelling loud enough that Adrian could hear from the street as he hopped out of the car and grabbed his board. It wasn’t quite loud enough to make out the words but the rage behind them was perfectly clear.

Adrian leaned his board on the fence and wavered outside the door. He really didn’t want to walk into the middle of Cody family business right now. He’d had a rough morning and a meeting with the DEA already and it had taken hours out on the water to get him in a decent mood. Walking into whatever was making Deran that mad was sure to ruin it. He fiddled with the keys for a moment before deciding to just go grab some food. If he took long enough, Deran might even have time to calm down before he got back.

The sound of his name stopped him in his tracks before he could even take a step.

“Adrian would never betray me!” Deran’s voice came through clearly.

Adrian froze and took a step back to tilt his head towards the door. Two other voices drifted through the glass - Craig and Pope were both here.

“You tell me about our jobs.” That was Pope’s low gravel. Adrian would know it anywhere, if only for the shiver it sent up his spine.

“I don’t lie to him but I don’t tell him every little detail!” Deran protested. “And even if I did, Adrian would never go to the cops.”

Adrian tensed. He hadn’t betrayed Deran, he never would, but he had in fact been in rather extensive contact with the authorities lately.

“He’s throwing competitions, man. You know he is.” Craig’s voice was softer and Adrian had to strain to hear it.

“He’s had a string of bad luck!”

“Or maybe he’s doing whatever he needs to to stick around here so he can find out more about our jobs.”

“Fuck you, Craig.” Deran’s voice was hard.

“Deran,” Craig sighed.

“Someone’s talking.” There was Pope again. “Someone outside the family. So we need to check everybody. And like it or not Adrian’s in the best position to be the rat. He’s known us long enough and you trust him enough to tell him everything.”

“Adrian’s not the fucking rat, jesus christ.” There was a pause and Adrian could imagine Deran running a hand through his hair. “You’ve both known Adrian since he was practically in diapers. Do you honestly think he’d turn on us? On me?”

Silence.

“I don’t know. But I am going to keep an eye on him to make sure.”

“Is that a threat, Pope?” Deran’s voice was ice cold.

“We protect the family.” Was all Pope said.

“You don’t go near him. I swear to god, Pope, don’t touch him. Not ever.”

“If he’s the rat-”

“He isn’t.” Deran didn’t even hesitate. “But if he is- I’ll deal with it. Not you. And sure as hell not Smurf. Smurf never finds out you’re even thinking about pointing the finger at him, okay?”

Adrian didn’t hear what was said next, their voices too low to make out. He stepped away from the door and ran a shaking hand over his head and face as he sucked in a deep breath. He had never said a word about the Cody’s to anyone and he never would but he knew that Pope didn’t necessarily need a reason to go after someone. And that was before he went off his beds. Between him and Smurf, Adrian knew he’d have to come clean about his involvement with the DEA or he was going to end up the next dead body around them, purely off of their mistrust.

He took another deep breath and twisted the door handle and shoved his way into the house. The three men inside shut up immediately as Adrian took stock of the situation.

Pope was standing with his back perfectly straight and his arms hanging loose at his sides. Next to him, Deran took a few quick steps away from where he’d been inches away from Pope’s face as he tried to play off the tension in the room. Craig stood close by with a careful eye on both of his brothers.

“Hey,” Adrian greeted. He tossed his keys on the table and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “You guys staying for dinner?”

“We’re leaving,” Pope announced gruffly and left without another word. Craig gave him an apologetic shrug and followed.

Adrian slumped against the counter as the door slammed shut in their wake.

“Hey,” Deran greeted softly as he came around and started rubbing at his shoulders. “Rough day?”

“I’ve been talking to the DEA.”

Deran’s hands stopped moving and his grip tightened.

“There was never a French billboard guy or whatever who sponsored me. I was running low on cash and some guys offered me enough money to finish the tour if I smuggled a surfboard full of cocaine to South Africa for them. I got caught at the airport and the DEA offered me a deal. I help bring the guys down or I get 25 years.”

Deran’s hands fell away and Adrian turned around to face him. His eyes were guarded but he didn’t look as angry as Adrian had expected.

“It has nothing to do with you or your family. You’ve never even come up. It’s just about the drugs. They said if I told anyone it could compromise the deal. But I was also worried that you’d keep your distance if you knew that I’ve been working with the feds.”

Deran took a step back and ran his hands over his face.

“Fuck.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I just-”

“I know. I heard.”

“You heard?”

Adrian shrugged. “You were yelling really loudly. It wasn’t hard.” He reached over the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, quickly downing half of it. “Craig wasn’t wrong about me throwing competitions. Just about why. I was hoping if I got kicked out of the tour for bad performance the DEA would cut me loose.”

Deran shook his head. “They’d just arrest you for the smuggling.”

“Yeah,” Adrian agreed with a heavy sigh. He took another sip.

They stared at each other across their small kitchen for a long moment, neither saying a word.

“It’s just about the drugs?” Deran asked, his voice small.

“Yes. I would never betray you Deran, I swear to god. I could never do that.” He ached to reach out to him but he wasn’t sure how Deran would react so he kept his hands to himself.

Deran plucked the bottle from his hand and finished it off in one long sip before placing it on the counter behind Adrian.

Adrian braced his hands on the counter behind him as Deran reached up and ran a finger along the shell of his ear, his gaze boring into Adrian’s all the while.

“Okay,” Deran said softly.

“Okay?” Adrian echoed, bewildered.

“You’re an idiot and you should’ve come to me if you needed money. And you definitely should’ve told me sooner but okay. This is something we can fix.”

A weight lifted off of his chest. “We can?”

Deran nodded. “We’ll figure something out.”

Adrian let out a breath and nodded, his shoulders sagging in relief. He hadn’t lost Deran.

Deran shook his head and moved his hand to the back of Adrian’s head and tugged him close, his other arm wrapping around his back as he pulled Adrian’s face into the crook of his neck. Adrian’s arms came up to wrap around Deran in return.

“We’ll figure it out,” Deran repeated.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr same username


End file.
